Sweet Potato Cakes with Peas

Sweet potatoes and Arborio rice are seasoned with shallots, lemon zest and sweet chili sauce to make delectable veggie cakes. Little chefs will love shaping the sweet potato mixture into patties and mashing peas with avocado for a simple side dish. This recipe comes to us from Trudy of veggie.num.num and the great folks at The Kids Cook Monday. This recipe is suitable for little cooks between the of ages 12-15.

Directions

To make the sweet potato cakes:

Adult: Place the rice and broth in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover, bring to a boil, keep covered and turn heat down to low. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid has absorbed. Strain the rice and set aside to cool.

Together:Fill a double boiler with water and set it over medium-high heat. Place the chopped potato and sweet potato in the double boiler and steam for 15 minutes, or until the potato is tender. Strain, mash both kinds of potato together in a large bowl and set aside to cool.

Together: When the rice and potatoes have cooled, add the rice to the potato bowl. Season the rice and potatoes with the shallots, garlic, chili, coriander, lemon zest, sweet chili paste, if using, and salt and pepper to taste.

Kid: Stir the potato rice mixture until all the ingredients are well combined, taking care to make sure the seasonings are evenly distributed. If the mixture is too wet, add a little flour. Shape the potato mixture into patties of similar size and shape.

Together: Place the eggs and milk together in a bowl and whisk together. Place the flour in a shallow dish and the breadcrumbs in a separate shallow dish.

Kid: Carefully dunk each sweet potato cake into the flour, then the egg and milk mixture, then the breadcrumb mixture. Place the coated sweet potato cakes on a separate plate and set aside. All cooks should take care to wash their hands after touching raw egg.

Adult: Place 3 centimeters of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the coated sweet potato cakes to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until golden. Flip and cook the other side for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Set aside the sweet potato cakes on a plate lined with paper towels for the patties to drain.

To make the mashed peas:

Adult: Place another pot of water on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Add the peas and boil for about 3 minutes, or until the peas are fully cooked.

Kid: Strain the peas, place in a bowl and mash with the avocado and wasabi, if using.